The Intermission of The Upgrade of Yuki Nagato
by CloudedJudgment
Summary: About eight months after the events of Upgrade, Yuki and Kyon's relationship has progressed quite far. On a day off, the SOS Brigade plans on getting supplies for a Tanabata party, yet Haruhi has other plans as well. And those plans are... Disclaimer Within. Two-Shot.
1. Part One

Yeah, so it's a short two-shot "OVA Style" intermission. Sue me.

If you haven't already, I suggest reading _The Upgrade of Yuki Nagato_ before starting this. It can be found at the bottom of my Author page, which can be accessed by clicking my name at the top.

If you haven't even watched/read _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_, I highly recommend doing so - even if you have no intentions of reading this or Upgrade. It is a very intriguing manga, light novel, and anime, and its movie is Cinematic gold, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Also, I'd like to point out that I do not own the Haruhi Suzumiya series or any related titles in any way. With that said...

"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa, Kadokawa Shoten, Tatsuya Ishihara, and Kyoto Animation. Please support the official release.

* * *

**The Upgrade of Yuki Nagato - Intermission**

In a small, rural neighborhood somewhere in Japan - The twenty-third of June.

The sun hung high in the sky, the rays of sheer heat it radiated practically visible to the naked eye.

Outside of a normal house in that neighborhood, a brown sedan drove by on the street, a few people walked past on the sidewalk, and swallows flew by the window.

Cicadas rested, completely unmoving, on the bark of the trees, making the same incessant chirp over and over and over.

Inside the white walls, one could hear the rumbling of an air conditioner running at full blast, and the low shaking of a washing machine going through its cycle.

"The temperature is currently 23 degrees, and the time has just switched to 9:32 in the morning. There isn't a cloud in sight and it is expected to…" Down the hall in front of the foyer, the living room television played the news; though nobody was actually watching it.

On the second floor, inside of the first door on the left past the stairs, a man laid on top of his bed. He had tossed his sheets into the floor in his sleep that night, and now just sat in his t-shirt and boxers on the bare bed.

Though he was asleep, his forehead was drenched in sweat. There was also someone lying next to him - the curled up figure of a small girl with silver hair whose head rested on his left bicep like a pillow. Her face was buried into his side and her arm draped across his chest.

The cicadas outside were persistent as always, and with so many the noise never ceased. They get louder and louder, their noise beginning to filter into the house more than before. It only took a short while for their song to wake up the man up.

"Ugh…" His eyes slowly opened, and he let out a long, quiet yawn. Afterwards, he only stared at the ceiling with a very annoyed expression for a while. Sweat still rolled down his face from his forehead. "It's too. Damn. Hot."

He looked to his side, the same look plastered on his face, and looked down at the small girl resting on his arm. With a short sigh, he smiled and gently removed his arm from under head, and got off of the bed very slowly and quietly.

"I guess I should start getting ready. Man…"

What a pain.

* * *

June the twenty-third. Exactly two weeks before the official start of Tanabata, so yesterday when Haruhi said:

"Listen up, guys! Tomorrow, we're going out to get supplies for an upcoming Brigade-sponsored event and party hosted by Ms. Tsuruya! I won't tell you what it's for, so don't try to pry, got it?"

I pretty much already knew what she was planning.

The thought of it made me want to just not go out that day at all. It's not that I didn't want to have a party just because it was Tanabata; I actually enjoy parties, believe it or not.

It's just that I _really_ didn't like being the 'Brigade Lackey' on my precious days off. And I just knew it was going to end up with me carrying way too much stuff from the shopping center and all the way up to the school, only getting a five minute break for the train ride.

In fact, maybe I should just call Haruhi and tell her I can't make it! Yeah, stick up for myself for once. Screw giving into the demands of that crazy broad day in and day out, time and time again - is what I thought to myself as I started to brush my teeth so I could get ready to leave.

Giving in to the demands of Haruhi was something I couldn't avoid doing. After all, disobeying her would be like asking the universe to explode - something Haruhi could accomplish just by thinking about it.

Actually, thinking would be too much, she just has to be bored and the world will explode.

After brushing my teeth, I decided to hop in the shower since I was drenched in sweat from last night. 22 degrees in the dead of night, what kind of crap _is_ this?

I thought maybe I should wake up the girl in my bed first, so we could take one together. But since she was in my bed already, I don't have to explain what I did last night. And despite what some of you may think, the teenage libido isn't non-stop.

Besides, it's way too hard to wake that ball of cuteness up. 'Ball of cuteness', _God_ what is wrong with me?

It was about 9:54 by the time I got out of the shower, and my phone started buzzing as I was drying myself off. As I walked to pick it up and check the message, I questioned why I did so, because I knew that it was going to say:

"Two hours, the usual spot, punishment for those who arrive late."

_'Does she have that sentence saved as a quick text or something?'_ I let out a self-loathing groan and tapped reply to let her know that I had gotten the message before I finished drying off and got dressed. Since I only had a short time, I figured I'd get it over with.

I walked back down the hall to my room and stopped at the doorway. From there, I looked over at my bed, watching what laid there so peacefully with a smile. _So damn cute._

Reluctant as one person could possibly be, I walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. She responded by opening one eye and rubbing at it with her finger. It must have taken her a bit to realize what was happening because she didn't say anything at first.

"Morning, Yuki." She lifted her head and smiled one of the most adorable smiles I had ever seen in my life. Such was Yuki in the morning.

"Good morning, Kyon."

* * *

"Alright, we're off," I said to nobody in particular. My little sister was gone for the next few days because of a school field trip where they'd be spending the night, so Yuki and I were the only two in the house.

It was the dead of summer, and so it was hot out - obviously. Since it was a day off, we were dressed semi-casually.

A pair of sand-colored shorts and a green t-shirt for me, a light blue tank top and a pair of short shorts for Yuki. Though, come to think of it, her clothe choices have been getting more and more… un-Yuki-like?

Going back about eight months ago, I can vividly remember several occasions when Yuki wore something other than her uniform, but it was never anything as girly as what she'd been wearing recently.

So, yeah, un-Yuki-like is the best word I have. Sue me.

I waved my arm to signal her to leave first, and then walked out behind her. After checking to make sure I had my keys, phone, and wallet, I shut and locked the door behind me.

According to several other texts I had gotten from the others, we were going to the shopping district again - the same place we robbed the poor man at the electronics store twice, and where I already knew we were going to end up going - but also that Haruhi had some things planned for before that.

Of course, not knowing what those things were made me shiver with bad expectations. Whenever Haruhi is planning something that _isn't _completely obvious, it rarely turns out to not be a huge pain.

* * *

You know how they say that wearing light clothes and no dark colors will actually help to keep you cooler in the summer? Well, I'm pretty sure they, whoever _they_ are, lied.

"Jesus, it's hot out. I'm just about boiled." I tugged at the collar of my shirt with one hand and wiped the sweat from my forehead with the other one. "How are you doin', Yuki? Not too hot, are you?" A few seconds passed before I realized she wasn't answering. "Yuki?"

Looking to my side, I saw the small girl next to me completely absorbed into the book she read; so much that she didn't notice anything about the world around her.

_'Wonder what she's reading.'_ As I peeked around at the cover of her book, I frowned. _'Oh, man… Is she seriously reading that thing in public?'_ It was the latest in a series of erotic novels she had gotten into recently - ya know, the kind of stuff you don't read in public.

She was so absorbed in her book, in fact, that I had to stop her from walking through streets at traffic lights, make sure she turned corners, and stop her from walking into other people; all on more than one occasion.

_'I'm sorry, author. But could we stop this right here? We're starting to steal plot development. And I'm not about to let you turn this into a crossover; nor do I have any intention of calling my girlfriend "Senpai".'_

...

... (Throat Clearing) Sorry.

...

After the usual solid thirty minutes of walking, we rounded the corner that led into the usual traffic circle. And in the middle of the usual bus stop, I quickly spotted three familiar faces.

"Kyon."

"I know, I know." As we got closer to the bus stop, I took Yuki's hand in mine and tried my best to hide my embarrassment at this situation. _'Damn you, 'God'.'_

"Hey, you guys!" And thus we were greeted by 'God' herself on that extremely hot Tuesday afternoon. "Bout time you showed up, Kyon!"

_'Right, right. I'm late and Yuki isn't - I got it. But can you get your boyfriend to pay for your lunch instead of me? I'm not sure how much longer my wallet can take this abuse.'_

"It's good to see you two." The ever-smiling Esper waved to us, looking the same way he always did. "And may I say? You two are really starting to look like a real couple." Knowing that he was just mocking me, I couldn't help but smile.

"I could say the same to you, there, Koizumi." Just like me, he too held the hand of his significant other. "You two are cute together."

"S-Shut up…" Her face turned beet red and she looked away, obviously annoyed, yet Haruhi never let go of Koizumi's hand.

It was pretty rare, actually, seeing Haruhi act embarrassed. Even after 'hooking up with that creep, Koizumi', as Taniguchi said it, she never really changed. She was still an excitable, eccentric, nutcase. Though, I probably shouldn't mention that to Koizumi.

"Relax. I'm just teasing you guys."

"Hello, Kyon. Ms. Nagato." Ms. Asahina stood near one of the benches and greeted us with a bow. "It's good to see you're doing well."

"Hello, Ms. Asahina. Same to you." As Yuki was still absorbed in her book, I decided to not wait for her to greet everyone - not that she really would have anyway - and asked a question whose answer I dreaded. "So. What are these 'other activities' you have planned, Haruhi?"

"Heh." As the face of 'God' grew a large smile, I couldn't help but feel a pain in my back. "It's extra special, Kyon, so you'd better be grateful! We're going…" And that was when she pulled them out.

_'Wait, is that…!?'_

"JET SKIING!"

Five tickets for free, all day, Jet Ski rentals.

What a pain...

* * *

To Be Continued...


	2. Part Two

I Claim No Rights. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa, Kadokawa Shoten, Tatsuya Ishihara, and Kyoto Animation. Please support the official release.

Enjoy~

* * *

And so we stood. It had taken about two hours, but we were there.

A gigantic lake, at least half a kilometer both ways, spread out in front of me. To the sides of, and way off in the horizon behind, the lake, a multi-acre forest surrounded it.

However, behind me there was a camping area and a road that was about six meters long, which led right into a small town. That small town had a station whose trains ran directly from the station that I went to in order to get to school.

_'But what I can't believe the most… is that a place like this actually freaking exists. And why have I never been here before!?'_

"It's quite amazing, isn't it?" Koizumi stood next to me, sharing what he thought was my admiration towards the scenery. But since I didn't feel like explaining why my brain hurt, I just agreed.

"Yeah, it is. Don't see places like this too often." I looked around, and everyone - not just the members of the SOS Brigade - was wearing swimsuits. The girls were standing at a wooden shack, talking to the man behind the window-counter.

"Have you ever ridden on one of these water bikes before?"

"Not once. You?"

"I'm the same."

A few moments of silence passed by. We both just looked out at the clear-as-day water. I'm pretty sure he was sweating as much as me - not just because of the heat.

_'I'm going to die here.'_

"Hey, don't look so down, Kyon!" I felt a firm hand on my back before that same hand pushed me forward. "Come on, you're out on a hot summer day, surrounded by girls in bikinis! Be a man! Ahahahaha!"

_Oh yeah. I forgot to mention._

Somehow along the way, we ran into Ms. Tsuruya. Turns out that Haruhi had tried to invite her, but she never answered her phone because she lost it. When we ran into her, by totally not coincidence, she tagged along.

"The only thing I hear from that is 'hot summer day', so you'll forgive me if your words bring no comfort." _Also, I'm pretty sure Yuki would kill me if my eyes started to wander._

"Well, don't worry. It's not like you'll land on anything but water if you crash! Ahahaha!"

_'That still isn't helping!'_

"Alright, you guys!" As Haruhi's annoyingly excited voice called out to us, I looked over to see the other girls in their own swimsuits. Haruhi wore a yellow two-piece with blue flower prints; Ms. Asahina wore a rather revealing two piece with a sash. And Yuki…

_Hey, kids. It's 'anime nosebleed' time once again!_

Yuki, inconsistent with what she normally wore as a swimsuit, was wearing a strapless top - which was honestly nothing but a piece of cloth - which was black on the right half and white on the left, and a similarly colored bottom.

_'God. And by that, I mean the real God, if there even is such a thing. I know it must seem like I only prey when I need something, but… Help. Me.'_

"The six tickets got us three water bikes, so we're going to pair up and switch around, okay?"

"Right," said the other four together, while I just stood there hoping I wouldn't die in a watery grave. I watched as the Ms. Tsuruya, Haruhi, and Ms. Asahina excitedly ran towards the water bikes, while Yuki and Koizumi just walked normally.

With a sigh, I reluctantly followed them to the water's edge.

"Okay, first will be me and Koizumi, Yuki and Kyon, and Mikuru with Ms. Tsuruya! Everyone pick a bike and let's have some fun!" _Yes, because fun is what I'm expecting. I don't want to sound like a total kill joy, but this is kind of nerve racking for me._

And it was at that thought when I saw it.

"Yuki? What are you doing?" Her lips were moving a mile a minute, and that only meant one thing - she was casting a spell.

"Information gathering complete. 'Driver Efficiency' mode activated." With that, she looked at each of the water bikes separately, blinking at each one. "Spell complete."

"Driver Efficiency?" With her spell cast, she walked off towards the bikes.

"Ah, I see." Koizumi looked at the three bikes and nodded. "It would seem that Ms. Nagato has made it so anybody behind the 'wheel' of these three bikes will have all the knowledge they need to ride without hindrance."

"…" I looked at Koizumi as he spoke, and then turned my attention to Yuki when he finished explaining. She just sat there on the back seat of one of the bikes. A childish blush was on her cheeks, and she kept peeking back at me.

_Yep. She's waiting for me to give her a ride on that thing._

…So cute.

* * *

"WOOHOO!" The water bike rode one of the lakes small waves, and came back down with a splash. Haruhi was standing up - which I'm pretty sure is something you shouldn't do - with one hand on Koizumi's shoulder to balance herself as she shouted.

Ms. Tsuruya was laughing her lungs out while Ms. Asahina clung firmly to her back in fear.

And I…

I was enjoying myself.

Every few seconds, the bike would jump a few inches and splash back down into the water and make huge blasts of water fly up and splash against me. It was just a lake, so the water wasn't salty, and it was nice and cool, too. I didn't even feel the sun anymore.

Yuki clung to my back as she sat behind me. Every so often, I'd look back and she her smiling. _Stop being so damn cute!_

_'I have to admit, though, I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would. Probably doesn't hurt that I mysteriously know what I'm doing, even though I've never rode one of these things before.'_

"This is the best thing ever!" Haruhi seemed like she was enjoying herself a little too much, on the other hand. I also couldn't help but notice that Koizumi was having a bit of fun as well.

About an hour passed before Haruhi called us all in. After we parked the water bikes and got back on solid land, the girls started getting cooking supplies ready while me and Koizumi began setting up a portable pavilion.

"So, how was it?" I'm not sure why, but smile boy decided to strike up a conversation with me.

"I'll admit that knowing what I was doing took off a lot of the stress. I guess it was pretty enjoyable." I began putting poles together while Koizumi unfolded the tent roof. "What about you?"

"Ms. Suzumiya was having a lot of fun, so that made it all the more enjoyable for me."

"Can you blame Harunyan?" Ms. Tsuruya stood in front of us holding an outdoor rice cooker. "Jet Skiing is fun! I know I had a blast! Ahahaha!"

"Geez, Ms. Tsuruya." Ms. Asahina walked up behind her with plastic shopping bags. "I kept asking you to slow down."

"Ahaha. Sorry, Mikuru. Hard to hear over the bike, ya know?" As Ms. Tsuruya bowed apologetically, Haruhi and Yuki came over with more food and cooking supplies.

And so, we began. Under the shade of our portable pavilion, all six of us did the job that Haruhi had assigned to us.

Koizumi was on vegetable duty, or at least the cutting and peeling portion. I was on grill duty; making kabobs from the vegetables and cooking meat and fish.

Ms. Asahina and Ms. Tsuruya were cooking the things that didn't go on the grill. Steaming, frying, and curry-making were their jobs.

Yuki was watching over the rice, though all she was actually doing was reading and stealing bites every now and again. She thought nobody saw her, but I'm pretty sure we all did.

And Haruhi… she was 'overseeing' our work. And by that, I mean she was telling me how bad I was at cooking. You know, typical Brigade Leader mode.

Whatever the case, we all did our respective jobs, and within half an hour, we had what I could only call a feast. The long picnic table we sat at was filled with plates and pots of food.

"Seriously, how much did you buy?" I looked at all the food, thinking that there wasn't any way we could finish it all.

"Well, Ms. Tsuruya said it was all on her and to not hold back, so we did just that. I guess we went a little overboard." Ms. Asahina smiled, but I know she was thinking the same thing I was. "We're going to have so many leftovers…" See? "And we haven't even made it all.

That was no lie. We ended up stopping after a while, so we had a lot of uncooked food.

_'It would be a shame to let it all go to waste.'_

"Then we'll just do this." Haruhi stood up without another word, walking towards some of the other groups of people.

_'Wait… she can't seriously be…'_ But she was.

About five minutes later, there were probably another ten people at the table, and they kept coming even after Haruhi had sat back down.

_'I can't believe it… Haruhi invited people she didn't know to come eat with us?'_ I caught a glimpse of Koizumi out of the corner of my eye, and turned to see that he was smiling at me. Seeing this, I had to smile myself. _'Well, who would've guessed?'_

* * *

Our SOS Brigade outing lunch quickly turned into a large party with food for everyone at the lake. Everyone smiled and laughed with random strangers. Me, Koizumi, and some other guys ended up grabbing up some grills and making more food.

With the food we had already made, the food we hadn't made, and the stuff that6 other people had brought, there was no end to the stuff we could make.

After a while, I glanced over towards the water, only to see the girls with some other people, lighting sparklers. At that point, it was getting darker outside, so it kind of felt like a festival.

"Well, who would've thought that Ms. Suzumiya would do all this?" Koizumi stood at the grill next to the one I was at; serving his food to people we didn't even know. "Even I have to admit that it surprised me when she first started getting people."

"Well, it isn't exactly what you would call 'normal' for Haruhi. Though, I guess she does have a way of bringing people together." _'Though whether she does that with her power or not, I don't know.'_

"You mean like she did with us? When you put it that way, you might be right." Watching all the people having fun gave me a sort of warm feeling. It was fun to be at the center of it all.

As I thought that, I started to smile. But then…

_Well, well. Aren't you having fun?_

A voice. It sounded like it came from behind me. I turned around with a jolt, but there was nobody there.

_'No… I know that voice…'_

"Kyon?" As he said my name, Koizumi snapped me back into reality. "Is everything alright?" I turned back around, looking back over the crowd of people at our makeshift festival.

"Yeah, just thought… no. It's nothing." From the worried look he gave me, I didn't think Koizumi bought it. Even so, he didn't say anything else.

"Hey, you guys!" Snapping me back even further into reality, the girls ran up to us. "Check it out!" Haruhi held out a slip of paper and a keychain. "The manager of the rental place gave me these!"

"Wait a minute. Did he give you the keys to the water bikes?"

"Uh-huh. He said something about not seeing this place so lively in a long time, and said we could use the bikes if we wanted to!"

"That seems a little…"

"Amazing!" _Not really what I was going for Koizumi, but sure. Just interrupt me._ "What do you say, Kyon? Would like to go for a ride?"

* * *

As if I didn't have a choice, we hopped on the water bikes by ourselves and took off down the lake at full speed, the people of our party cheering us on to race. Yuki's spell was still in place, so it was obvious that I would take on those cheers.

Full speed, we began to circle the entire lake, seeing which of us could go faster with turns. A race in all its glory. We both took the turns without slowing down more than a few miles per hour, and were even standing. We must have seemed like pros.

At some point, it seemed like Koizumi was going to beat me - surprise, surprise - but something cut our race short.

Now that the sky was dark enough, they started lighting off big fireworks. As the night sky was lit up by the showers of fire, we stopped our bikes and gazed at them from the water.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Really feels like a festival. Though I don't know which is more impressive - the fireworks or the reason they're being lit."

"Haha, I guess I agree with you on that. Having too much food usually doesn't lead to a miniature festival."

"You must be happy about it, huh, Koizumi? That Haruhi is becoming more and more social." At that, he was silent. It was rare, Koizumi being at a loss for words.

"Yeah… I am."

I looked over to where everyone else, and saw Yuki standing at the edge of the water. She smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. I got the same warm feeling from before.

And it happened again.

_Is this really how it should be?_

_'That voice again!'_ If I didn't know any better, I would have said I was going crazy. _'Who's there? You can hear me, right?'_

_My, you certainly are observational._

_'Believe me. I'm not all too proud of being able to know about the workings of the supernatural. Putting that aside, though, how about you tell me who and where you are?'_

_That's pretty cruel, Kyon. Have you forgotten about me?_

I looked out amongst the crowd, trying to find someone whose physical description I didn't know. Like looking for a piece of hay in a pile of hay.

_'I knew I recognized that voice… but I don't know why.'_

_Well, I guess you wouldn't, huh? After all, I'm not the same person you knew. Maybe a small hint is needed; I guess one look won't hurt._

That was when I saw her. Koizumi and Yuki must have seen the look on my face, because they both looked to where I was looking. They reacted the same way.

I saw her mouth the words.

"So nice to see you again, Kyon."

"Ryoko Asakura."

* * *

"Ryoko." Yuki Nagato's eyes were widened as she looked back at her.

"Hello there, Ms. Nagato, so very nice to see you again. I've missed you since I've been gone." Asakura only smiled, the same way she always did.

"Why are you here?"

"I must say that I never expected the higher ups to implant the errors they tried so hard to fight right inside of your head. It's quite-"

"I asked a question!"

"My… You're so much more, 'emotional', is that what they call it? I don't care for you this way, Ms. Nagato, I really don't."

"No more talking, then." The white-haired girl threw her arm forward, and her lips began to move at a great speed.

"Now, now, Ms. Nagato. We can't have you casting any spells." With a simple wave of her hand, Ryoko Asakura knocked Yuki Nagato to the ground.

* * *

"Yuki!" I shouted out to her as she fell to the ground. "Asakura, what did you-?"

"Kyon! We have to go help her! There's a barrier around this area so we can go all out!" Without another word, Koizumi throttled the gas on his water bike and sped off down the lake. I followed without hesitation.

_Ah, Kyon. I thought you knew the workings of the supernatural, isn't that what you said?_

As those words entered my head, I saw her wave her hand again. And just as she did, my water bike hit a wave. I could feel it.

_'I'm… losing control of the bike.'_ As I landed, I swerved a little. I quickly got myself moving straight again, but I wasn't quick enough. _'She removed Yuki's spell!?'_

_Correct._

As the bike smashed down into the water again, I could feel the handles trying to jerk themselves out of my grip.

_'Not good!'_

_I wonder, Kyon, how are you going to escape without Ms. Nagato to save you?_

"Ms. Nagato isn't the only one here!" The brown-haired Esper jumped from his water bike, still a large distance away from the shore, and threw his hand back as it ignited in flames. "Or did you forget about me!?"

"Now, now, Mr. Itsuki Koizumi, you should know better." The blue-haired girl only smiled at him. "If you could hear that, then you must know two things; the first being that I don't have the energy to keep my barrier up much longer. And the second would be…?"

He realized it.

"Uh… Kyon!" But it was all too late.

* * *

I couldn't stop it again; I already knew that. As the water bike fell back towards the water, in what felt like slow motion, I could feel Asakura's barrier receding.

_'Dammit…'_ Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Koizumi looking back in shock as I landed, Yuki staring in shock from the ground, all of the people in the crowd staring in horror… and Asakura fading away into the night air, the same psychotic smile on her face as always.

The bike hit the water and I felt the handlebars jerk out of my control. I felt my whole body tip to the side before I flew off it at a few miles per hour. All of it took a single moment, and I was in the air. Within the next moment, I landed head first in the water.

"KYON!" Hers was voice I heard amongst them all. Over all the people that screamed as I crashed, over the other five who called my name… I heard hers so clearly.

_'Dammit… it hurts. It hurts a lot! Damn! What do I do!? …Yuki…'_ I began sinking. _'Someone…'_ As I closed my eye, I could make out the silhouette of someone diving down on top of me.

The next thing I knew, my back was on firm ground. Though I was facing right towards the sky, I couldn't see anything but the face of the girl in front of me.

"Kyon! Stay with me, come on!"

_'Haru… hi?'_

* * *

I opened my eyes after what felt like at least three days. My vision was blurred and my entire body ached to the bone, so I knew it had to be at least that long.

_'What happened…?'_ I felt my head drop to the side, and I could see medical equipment through the haziness in my eyes. _'A hospital room? Oh, right, I… wait, what happened again?'_

"Oh, you're awake. About time." I could hear a door clicking shut, and had to blink to see who had come in. It was a rather tall boy that looked the same age as me. He had messy brown hair and a pair of yellow headphones around his neck. He was wearing the North High winter uniform. "How are ya feelin'?"

"Who… are you?"

"Hey, now." He raised an eyebrow. "That isn't funny. I already know there was no damage near the head, so don't try to act like you have amnesia. Ya jerk."

_'But I'm serious. I don't…'_

"Here." He dropped a bag of apples onto my chest. "Koizumi told me to bring these up for her. I swear, that girl is so old world."

_'Wait… 'Her'? 'Girl'?'_ The boy rubbed the back of his head. _'What are you…?'_

"Hmm? Hey, the hell is up with you?" He began pushing his finger into my cheek. "You not fully awake yet or something? Snap out of it, Kyonko."

_'Kyon… ko?'_ I looked at my hand after he said that. It was small - a great deal smaller than what I remembered it to be. _'What the hell is happening?'_

I heard the voice of the guy in the room talking to me, but I didn't comprehend anything that he was saying. I put my hand - my small, tiny hand - over my face and looked to my other side at the window. What I saw was petrifying.

The image of a small girl in a North High winter girl's uniform sitting up in a hospital bed, staring right back at me.

* * *

Ha. Bet ya didn't see that coming, huh? Well, boom.

Well, the Intermission ends here~ The cliffhanger will be continued in _Upgrade two_point_ _, so look forward to it!

Until Next Time~


End file.
